A parametric study to enable the use mosquitos’ repelling plants in the built environment
Goals/Objectives of Project
This work builds on the hypothesis that since plants extracts have been used by some pharmaceutical companies, in creams, body lotions and sprays, as a less toxic alternative to repel mosquitoes, they could potentially be used directly as mosquito repellent ‘devices’ in the built environment.
The first step in testing how effective the use of these plants would be in repelling mosquitoes once placed inside buildings or their surroundings would be to undertake laboratory experiments to investigate:
- How many plants need to be grouped together and how far apart these groups need to be from each other for the repellent effect to be sufficient?
- How is the repellent effect affected by air movement (e.g. fans installed near plants)?
- What is the minimum amount of direct solar radiation and daylight that these plants need to grow?
Outputs of the work could lead to the design of prototypes to distribute mosquito repelling plants throughout the built environment (e.g. vertical gardens, green window sills, etc.). This prototype could complement other ecological mosquito repellent alternatives such as the use of nets and pesticide free creams and lotions in preventing mosquito transmitted diseases such as malaria.
List of Researchers
Contact Details of Facilitators
- Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation & Discovery (CUCRID)
- Department of Biological Sciences
